alexisonfire have been one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite band of the last 10 years. I mean I got their logo tattooed me after only a few listens to their self-titled debut album. When I heard that record I instantly fell in love with aof. Dog's Blood was set to be an almost brand new direction for the band. Latent with their now classic clean/scream singing style they added new elements of an almost horror punk sound. Dog's Blood is one of those EPs you wish was longer, oh if only it wasn't just a taste of what could of been.
This four song EP starts of with the title track "Dog's Blood". This track starts off with a punky fast drum beat and leads into George Pettit screaming his head of in a brutal way that was missed on their last record. This track could easily be a song off the album Watch Out!. Dallas Green's amazing voice rounds out the triple team vocals. Dallas' vocals on this song are very dark and moody giving it a haunting feel.
"Endless brush fires scorch the plains
Dogs blood falls to the Earth like rain
Choke the rivers flood the streets, caught in a hail of K9 teeth
A new kind of soldier, born of scars
Consuming the scum and the blood of dogs
Faced by their own campaign of fear
In times of drought they drink their own tears
Howls heard for miles around
(We will all drown, we will all drown)
In dogs blood we will all drown
(We will all drown, we will all drown)
New landscape emerging through the lurid sound
We'll all bathe in the blood of hounds
They will hunt then to the last, time of the mongrel is doomed to the past
Sun will rise to a new scene
And all the hordes will wake from their endless dream
On offensive the alpha will fall
By tail and ear, muzzle and paw
Man will strike with the hand of god
Mark the end of the era of dog "
alexisonfire is hardcore band at it's core. This is most heard on the track "Grey". This is what a melodic hardcore song should sound like. The added tones of Dallas Green's guitar adds an almost bluesy feel to this track. The use of ambient harmonics make this one a standout.
"Big black wolf, clawing at your door
Dead mans hand, is crawling 'cross the floor
Witch on the horizon is brewing up a vex
Everyone in town is wondering who is next
Toothless tramp, is crawling through the mud
Turned in to the {living} dead, by puffer fish blood
The God of the sea, is swinging his trident
We stoke our, fires with the bones of tyrants
The city trudges on
Under a sky as
Grey as the mayors heart
Meanest man alive, lives for a hundred years
Town pedophile, bathes in little girls tears
Ghosts of old love, are blowing through the pines
Nicotine babies being born with no spines
Gather up the children, and lead them to the cliffs
The anchor has been cut, and we are all adrift
New plague is rolling, through the slums of old town
And the roaches move in, as the rats have all drown
The city trudges on
Under a sky as
Grey as the mayors heart
As grey as prison bars
As grey as a border fence
As grey as a chain
As grey as the mayors heart
As grey as prison bars
As grey as a border fence
As grey as a chain"
In August of 2011 the alexisonfire community was given some hard news to swallow, as aof decided to call it quits. To me this was as sad as the day I heard At The Drive-In broke up. Fear not as singer/guitarist Dallas Green is doing very successful with his folk/acoustic/rock project City and Colour and singer/guitarist Wade MacNeil has now taken over the helm as singer for the band Gallows. As for the rest of the alexisonfire crew, only time will tell where they will end up but fear not, it will be amazing.
alexisonfire goes good with: Underoath, Thrice, City and Colour, Black Lungs, Cancer Bats, Funeral For A Friend, Gallows, Billy Talent, Comeback Kid
-Cicatriz
Get this album here: http://theonlybandever.com/site/store.php#D2481
